Rotary engine



J. A. LARSON ET AL ROTARY ENGINE INVENTORS Filed April 10, 1922 9 Jones R. Loro Er} Johnso Patented Aug. 19, 1924. 1

STATE PATIENT. on-"lea,

Jonas AUGUST LARSONAND ERIC Jonnson, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ROTARY 'nnernn Application filedApriI 10, 1922. Serial No. 551,221;

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, J oNAs Aucosr LARSON and E1110 JOHNSON, both citizens or the United States, and residents of Chicago,-

in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,

have invented a new and useful Improve-i ment in Rotary Engines, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description. Our invention relates to improvements ,-1Il

rotary engines, and it consists in the combi-.

A further object of our lIlVGIltlOIli is to,

provide a rotary engine of the character described in which the blades, when not actually in use, are retracted withinthe body of the rotor. A further object of our invention 1sto provide a rotary engine of thecharacter described which may be operated at low speed with a minimum loss in efficiency. I i

provide a rotary engine of thecharacter described which is simple in construction, which may be manufactured cheaply, and which is thoroughly practical for the purpose intended. 7

Other objects and advantages willappear in thefollowingspecification, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

Our invention isil'lustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, in whichp I Figure 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of my invention, and

Figure 2 is a sectional view alongthe line 2-2 of Figure 1.

In carrying out our invention, we make,

use of a base 1 having an upright stator 2. The stator 2 comprises an upwardly extending arcuate surfaced member 3 having flat vertical sides 4 and 5. An inlet nozzle 6 is supported adjacent one end of the stator 2 and an arcuate shoe 7 is supported on the stator 2 and arranged to extend upwardly from the nozzle 6 to a point adjacent the opposite end of the stator 2.

A rotor 8 is provided and is comprised, namely, of two circular core portions 9 and 10. The cores 9 and 10 are fitted to one another by means of dowel pins 11, which are received in holes 12,provided in one of. the cores, Each of the cores 9 and 10is pro-- vided with a band 13 tightly fitted upon the i I periphery of the outer, surface thereof. A;

narrow notch 14 in the inner sides of the cores 9 andlO'adjacent the bands 13, provides means for theentrance of the arcuate shoe 7, as shown in the drawing. 1 y Means 'for rotat'ably mounting the rotor 8 inoperative engagement with the stator 2 is provided in a pair ofstub shafts 15. The shafts 15 are centrally mounted on the cores 9 ;and 10 comprising the rotor 8, by means ofplates 16-andrivets .17; The'shafts15,

are supported in bearing sleeves 18 provided a 1n upright bearing supports 19, The bear:

incr supports 19 are supported upon the base 1 heretofore described. g 5

A pulley wheel 20 is secured, upon one of the stub shafts 15 and provides means for driving machinery or the like. a

The rotor 8 is provided with an annular groove 21 formed by grooving the cores 9 andlO adjacent to their inner edges. Each of the cores 9 and 10 are provided with 11 further object of our invention is to radially extendin grooves 23 in which metal blades 24 are sli ably disposed. The inner ends 25 of each diametricallyopposed pair of blades 24 have disposed therebetween a compression spring 26. The compression spring 26 is mounted concentrica rod 26 carried by one of the blades24. Thesprings thus serve to constantly press the blades 24 outwardlyj I Z That end of the stator 2 adjacent: the nozzle 6, is providedwith a spring band 27, which band is pressed into close engagement with the bottom of the groove 21 in the stator2, and the opposite end of which is disposed beneath the nozzle 6. The 0 posite'end of the stator 2 is provided wit an outwardly extending arcuate surface 28. The purpose of this surface 28 is to guide the blade 24 as it strikes the stator toward the center of the rotor 8 and upon the arcuate surface 29 of the vertical arcuate surfaced member 3.

It will be noted that the shoe 7 fits snugly between the bands 1.3 and the notches 14. The tendency of the springs 26-t0 press the blades24 outwardly is to also press the shoe 7 in close engagement with the bands 13, thus insuring a tight packing at this point. The outer end 30 of the shoe 7 is at a short distance from the upper end 31 of the arcuate surfaced portion 28 of the stator 2, and the space therebetween provides an outlet or exhaust port for the engine. j

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood. Let us assume that the device is to be operated by steam. In this case, the steam feed pipe will be connected to the nozzle 6 and the steam turned on. As the steam enters the nozzle 6, it will be directed upwardly by the band spring member 27, and will fill the -space 32 between the blade 24: and the band '27; When the space 32 has been filled with steam and pressure exerted uponthe adjacent blade 24, the rotor 8 will turn in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 1.

This-must occur, since the steam cannot contact the blades 24 below the nozzle 6 for the reason that the blades are retracted toward the center of the rotor 8, and secondly, that there is no space for the steam to enter, the a'rcuate surfaced member 3 be'i ng'di-sposed' closely adjacent the bottom of the grooves 21.

As the rotor 8 revolves in 'a clockwise directi'on, the steam in the space "32 will ultimately be moved to the exhaust port intermediate the end 30 of the shoe 7 in the point 31 of 'the stator 52. At this point, fresh s'team'will be driving the blades 2% adjacent the spring band 27. As quickly as the blades 24 move above the band 27 in their clockwise movement, they will be forced out and in The operation of our rotary engine would be precisely the same if compressed air or water was used in. place of steam. It will be noted that, since there is no place for the steam to escape, that the blades 24 must be moved forward or in a clockwise direction, and thus the act-ion of our engine in its operation is positive, which of course is unlike the peration of the steam turbin and similarly driven devices.

Means for locking the "cores and '10 to' one another is provided in threaded machine screws 22 as shown in dotted lines in Figures 1 and 2, I

An increase in the diameter ofthe rotor 8 will of course provide an increase in the leverage of the blades relative to the shafts 15 and thereby increase the horse power of the engine. I

I We claim: a V

A device of the character described comprising a rotor having a circular body portion and a concentric groove in the periphere a1 wall thereof, said rotor having a marginal groove on each of the sidewalls of the concentric groove adjacent the peripheral wall of the rotor, a pluralityfof spring pressed blades radially disposed in said rotor and arranged to be moved outwardlyand trans: verse to the; concentric groove, a stator arranged to partially enter the concentric groove in said rotor and having an a'rcuate surface contacting said rotor for a portion of its circumference at the base surface of said concentric groove, an arcuate shoe supported by said fstator and having its longitudinal edges disposed within the marginal grooves in said rotor, and a nozzle projected through said shoe, whereby steam or the like may be admitted to the concentric groove in said rotor 'to drive said roto'r.

JONAS AUGUST LARSON. ERrc JOHNSON. 

